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News :: Media : Political-Economy : Right Wing |
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Fox News' Use of 'Fair and Balanced' Challenged Legally |
Current rating: 0 |
by Jake Coyle
(No verified email address) |
20 Jul 2004
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Chellie Pingree, president of Common Cause, said the legal actions were consistent with the First Amendment. "Fox has no obligation under the law to be fair and balanced, just not to market itself as fair and balanced," he said. |
NEW YORK - Fox News' use of the slogan "Fair and Balanced" constitutes deceptive advertising, two political advocacy groups claimed Monday in a petition filed with the Federal Trade Commission.
Liberal MoveOn.org and historically nonpartisan Common Cause assert that Fox News' reports are "deliberately and consistently distorted and twisted to promote the Republican Party of the U.S. and an extreme right-wing viewpoint."
Alleging consumer fraud, the complaint calls for the FTC to order Fox News, consistently the highest-rated cable news network, to cease and desist from using the slogan.
Irena Briganti, a Fox News spokeswoman, told the Associated Press that "while this is clearly a transparent publicity stunt, we recognize all forms of free speech and wish them well."
In a statement later Monday, FTC Chairman Timothy J. Muris indicated the petition has little chance.
"I am not aware of any instance in which the Federal Trade Commission has investigated the slogan of a news organization. There is no way to evaluate this petition without evaluating the content of the news at issue. That is a task the First Amendment leaves to the American people, not a government agency."
But Chellie Pingree, president of Common Cause, said the legal actions were consistent with the First Amendment. "Fox has no obligation under the law to be fair and balanced, just not to market itself as fair and balanced," he said.
After a press conference announcing the petition, members of MoveOn.org and Common Cause marched to the Fox News Headquarters to hand out DVDs of the recent documentary "Outfoxed," which alleges a pattern of right-wing biases in the network's reporting, citing statements by former Fox employees and internal memos.
The documentary is "Exhibit A" in the FTC petition.
At the press conference, Common Cause's Pingree said the petition was consistent with the 34-year-old citizen advocacy group's history, and a response to the "growing firestorm about what's going on with the media."
It could take months for the Federal Trade Commission, which hears all consumer complaints, to judge whether the complaint has merit.
Fox has sought to trademark its "Fair and Balanced" motto, which also has been met with legal action.
Independent Media Institute, a not-for-profit promoter of independent journalism, filed a petition last December with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office challenging Fox's trademark request.
The IMI's petition claims that the term "fair and balanced" is so prevalent as to be generic, and is "entirely mis-descriptive" when it comes to Fox News.
Last summer, Fox News Channel tried to block publication of liberal humorist Al Franken's book, "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right," saying it made unauthorized use of Fox's "fair and balanced" slogan.
The judge dismissed Fox's case, saying it was "wholly without merit," and the trademark "Fair and Balanced," registered by Fox in 1998, was weak. He also said the network was "trying to undermine the First Amendment."
© Copyright 2004 Associated Press
http://www.ap.org/ |
Copyright by the author. All rights reserved. |
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Unfair and Unbalanced |
by MoveOn.org
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
20 Jul 2004
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Dear MoveOn member,
Last night, over 25,000 people gathered in living rooms across the nation to see Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism. It was an inspiring turnout. And we saw just how Fox News delivers the Republicans' talking points under the guise of a news broadcast.
Raising the stakes, Common Cause and MoveOn filed a complaint this morning with the Federal Trade Commission challenging Fox News' deceptive advertising slogan "fair and balanced."
We need your help. Sign our Fox petition and join in our complaint to the FTC and Congress at:
http://www.moveon.org/fox/
We need to add hundreds of thousands of signatures and comments by Wednesday, so that the FTC and Congress know they've got to deal with this issue. The challenges to Fox's partisanship are mounting. Not surprisingly, Fox hasn't offered any real defense. Instead, they have responded by attacking former employees who are speaking out. It's crucial that we demonstrate public support for these courageous journalists and voice our disgust with Fox's deceptive advertising.
And we really need to spread the word about this campaign. On the petition page, there's a really horrifying but funny video clip from the film highlighting Bill O'Reilly's hypocrisy. After signing and giving your comment, you can send the petition and this clip to friends to keep the ball rolling.
Join us in taking on Fox at:
http://www.moveon.org/fox/
This is just the beginning of our Fox campaign. In this election year, nothing could be more important than demanding fair coverage in the press. We're putting all the media on notice that we will accept no less.
Thanks, as always, for all that you do.
Sincerely,
--Carrie, Joan, Lee, Marika, Noah, Peter, and Wes
The MoveOn.org Team
July 19th, 2004 |
